Kenady Bunker's Day Off...

Party day!!! Yay!!! After 7 full days of humanitarian work we finally got a day off to be tourists and shop! If you know me at all you know that I. LOVE. TO SHOP. It would really be better if I didn't love shopping so much cause it is definitely a cause of monetary issues but I just can't help it. It is a love. This morning we left around 10 to go to the beach city Mamallapuram. Mamallapuram is on the Bay of Bengal and is a really fun tourist town. We basically got dropped off in the morning and told where to meet and what time and were given the whole day to explore and have fun. I ended up wandering the city with Heather (one of my roommates) and Katie (the dance teacher that will be at RSO for the whole summer setting up a dance program). We started out the day by shopping. I have a love/hate relationship about shopping in India. I love that the rupee is so much smaller than the dollar and that even with all my shopping I have only spent $150 this WHOLE TRIP. This includes cab fare from the airport, drinks, food, AND all the awesome souvenirs I bought yesterday. The thing that I hate about shopping in India is that you have to bargain at every single store cause they always jack up the price when they see Americans come into the store. I am not good at bargaining and I don't like to do it but I got used to it as the day wore on.

So we started out shopping but then we headed to the ruins that are located in Mamallapuram. The ruins here are seriously SO AMAZING and it is all where you find Krishna's Butterball. Krishna's butterball is a huge ball of rock that is balanced on the side of a hill. Scientists have come and tried to move the ball and figure out how it can stay like that but no one has been able to figure it out yet. Katie, Heather, and I had so much fun climbing all through the ruins and enjoying the breeze at the top and just exploring all that was around us. These ruins are really hard to put into words so you really just have to look at the pictures below to get an idea.

After we explored the ruins we shopped a little more before heading to lunch. We had an AMAZING lunch at a place called Moonrakers and while we were eating we saw our driver Vale. When we finished we all (including Vale) headed to the beach. Vale was so funny the whole time. As mentioned before, Vale and TJ (the drivers) take it upon themselves to make sure that nothing happens to us American girls while we are in India. If we would stop and take a picture on the way to the beach and got behind the group he was tell us to hurry and stay with everybody else. It was really funny and so nice of him to look out for us. One thing that I loved about the beach was how warm the water was. I am so used to beaches in California that I wasn't expecting 80 degree water. The beach was also covered in boats and dead fish. It was so interesting to see a beach in another part of the world. We also saw the sacred temple while we were at the beach. This is another monument/ruin that was really beautiful and totally epitomizes Indian culture. Also in Mamallapuram (even though we didn't get to see it) is an underwater temple. The story goes that there were seven ancient temples but only six had ever been found. The seventh had always been a mystery and no one could find it. When the Tsunami hit southeast Asia before the wave came the water went out for over a mile. When the water went out the top spires of a temple could be seen out of the ocean floor--they fund the seventh temple. Now tourists can take boats out to the temple and snorkle/dive to see it.

After we went to the beach we shopped some more before heading back to the van. I got some really awesome things and am growing to love India more everyday. On the bus ride home I played with Belle (the RSO directors' almost two year old daughter). Belle is a great mimic and I taught her to do a gangsta/mean mug face. It had me laughing so hard cause she is so stinkin cute!

Once back at the hostel we headed to dinner on the roof as usual. Now that the kids are back and we are separated into families we meet with our family every night to help tuck them in and get them to bed. I think I have the cutest family ever. All the girls are so cute and lovable I want to take them all home with me. As I was putting them to sleep I did "Going on a treasure hunt" on Ravathi's back. Once the other girl's saw this rhyme and back tickle they were all amazed and everyone wanted it done. I can't even remember how many times I did that rhyme last night but they all loved it. After that we sand the night night song and I helped get them all settled into bed. I don't know how I'm going to say good-bye to these kids; they are all so amazing and beautiful.

Well that's all for now!

Namaste!